Books

Written by K. A. Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, the Animorphs books first hit shelves two decades ago. The beloved 1990s series told the story of five human kids — Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Marco, and Tobias — who stumble upon a dying alien prince and are recruited into saving the Earth from the Yeerks, a parasitic alien species taking over peoples’ brains.

These books were a critical part of my childhood. I have every book on my bookshelves at my parent’s home. If you want to know my secret origin as a web developer, it is in these books.

I first encountered the Internet at a friend’s house in the mid-90’s. The first thing I did was search for Animorphs. I remember the crappy website that was so cool. When we eventually got access at our house, I got active in the online community around Animorphs. I drew characters and uploaded them to fan art sites, I even launched my own site for a while. Then, as the series ended in 2001 on a cliffhanger, I started writing my own continuation series.

After Animorphs, having been part of the online community for years, K. A. Applegate launched the short-lived Remnants book series. I built my first fully PHP-driven community with forum, fan art, fan fiction, and more.

It’s hard to believe that it has been twenty years since the first Animorphs book. If you have memories about these books, drop them in the comments below.